Many questions about the replanting of canes project at Skeldon

Dec 12, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor:

On May 20, 2024, the Minister of Agriculture Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha announced that the replanting of canes has commenced at Skeldon Estate. He also told the nation that this cane would be transported some 30 miles by road to be crushed at Albion, which is an uneconomical idea but when it comes to the decisions in that Ministry, cost sensible ideas are not the driver. He did not inform the nation as to the feasibility of this being done. Like most decisions in the Ministry, it was un-researched and just plain “shooting from the hip” in a sort of “big man politics” with spending without any second thought.

Since that announcement, some $600 million was set aside by the Ministry to be spent at Skeldon. The Board of Directors of GuySuCo and Mr. Paul Cheong (CEO), I was told, had no role in how this money is to be spent and the design of the spending plan; it was just silly political spending that would end up wasted. Sources in GuySuCo advised that it is allegedly a bilateral affair between two senior officials at the corporation. Is that so? Is this how public funds are spent? With no checks and balances?

The Minister promised the country that by year-end, a “substantial quantity of canes in the designated 5,000 hectares” will be planted. I am advised that as of the end of November 2024, the evidence from the fields at Skeldon revealed only about 50 hectares of land has been planted. That is 1% of the project completed. Is 1% the new substantial? Yet I am advised that more than half of the money has been paid out, particularly to two private contractors closely aligned to the people in the Ministry who are involved in this Project. This matter must be investigated by the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Auditor General urgently.

Is there any Christmas kickback in this deal for people running this Project? More than one source within GuySuCo has revealed that on this Skeldon Project, no accountability is done within the Corporation, all the decisions are made at Regent Street; and all the payments are directed from Regent Street. All decisions of who gets paid, how much, and when to pay are being made at Regent Street and not by the regular system within GuySuCo that traditionally had several layers of checks and balances.

In particular, it is alleged that payments are being made mainly to two contractors. When anyone questions these requests for payments coming out of the Skeldon Project, they are told that the instructions came from Regent Street and even higher up in the Office of the Vice President. I cannot believe that the Hon. Vice President is involved in this matter and maybe his name is being used falsely. Therefore, I am calling on him to review this entire arrangement and demand full accountability from his subordinates on this matter. Even Minister Ashni Singh’s name is being called.

I am told that in the grand scheme, deliberate instructions were issued from Regent Street for four patches of canes to be planted far apart from one another as a ploy to force the government to spend millions in 2025 on access dams to connect these patches. The seasoned GuySuCo field managers are questioning why all the canes were not planted close to the front of the cultivation if the intention was to transport them to Albion. Wonders never cease when it comes to certain individuals and this Skeldon project.

Sincerely,

Leroy Charles

(Many questions about the replanting of canes project at Skeldon)

(replanting of canes project)

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checks and balances, GUYSUCO, Paul Cheong, replanting of canes project, Skeldon

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